Digital Literacy Development Through the Use of Digital Badges
Digital badges are an online achievement recognition given directly to a student who can show their instructor that they are proficient at a given task. For teachers, digital badges are a means of recording the cumulation of new skills and thus an ongoing method of formative assessment. From a student's perspective, digital badges are a tangible way to prove that certain skills have been attained.
Google Drive Badge Descriptions
Badges in this group:
- G1 Set-up Google Account - Shows my ability to create a google account.
- G3 Create and share to view- Shows my ability to create, label, and share 3 files. One in Googledocs, one in Slides, and one in Forms.
- G4 Create and Label folders - Shows my ability to create colour coded and labeled folders within google drive.
- G5 Organizing files and folders - Shows my ability to sort files into folders within google drive.
- G7 Use menu options and drive features - Shows my ability to navigate google drive, star a folder, and delete and restore a document.
- G9 Media and Share - Shows my ability to upload and share a file containing video and images.
- G12 - Use Googleslide to create stick figure diagrams for planning - Shows may ability to copy a Googleslide page to create PE planning diagrams.
- G6 Using Copy and Paste Shortcuts- Shows my ability to effectively copy and paste digital information.
How these skills will help me as an educator:
Google accounts are a useful way to create and store documents on a cloud based server that can be accessed from any place with wifi on a variety of devices. Furthermore, these documents can be accessed by multiple people allowing for collaborative work to be done without all participants needing to be in the same location. When used as a tool for education, Google Drive empowers studetns and teachers alike to share information quickly, effectively and collaboratively. Personally I can envision goole documents being a very useful tool for brainstorming and group work within the classroom.
Youtube Badge Descriptions
Badges in this group:
- Y0 - Understand Youtube copyright and Fippa issues - Shows that I am aware of what copyright and FIPPA are and how to avoid the wrongful use of and presentation others work.
- Y1 - Set-up your Youtube channel - Shows my ability to successfully create a youtube channel that can be used to post videos, create playlists, and more.
- Y2 - Able to use creator studio - Shows my ability to access and use the creator studio on my Youtube account.
- Y4 - Upload a video to your Youtube channel - Shows my ability to upload a youtube video onto my channel so that it can be shared publicly or with specific groups.
- Y5 - Download a Youtube Video - Shows my ability to download and edit a youtube video and then upload it to my own youtube channel.
How these skills will help me as an educator:
Youtube is becoming an increasingly useful tool in the classroom as there are many videos that present new information in fun and creative ways. In the classroom youtube can be used to search, store, and organize videos that may aid in teaching. YouTube can also be introduced to studetns as a way to research ideas or as a means to share created videos which can be an engaging medium for making projects.
Folioz Badges Descriptions
Badges in this group:
- FN1 - Register, enrol and Understand eP - Shows my ability to create a Folioz account and register in a course on CourseZ.
- FN3 - Linking to your public Folioz profile page - Shows my ability to create a public profile on Folioz and navigate between Folioz and Coursez.
- FC2 - Upload badges to backpack and categorize - Shows my ability to create an organized online badges account using mozilla backpack.
- FC6 - Developing your own skins to customize the look of your pages - Shows my ability to develop and use my own skin to personalize my Folioz pages.
- FN2 - Create a video artifact - Shows my ability to develop a video (in this case an introductory video about myself made on iMovie).
- FA02 - Professional Peer Feedback - Shows my ability to both give and respond to professional feedback on my Folioz page.
- FC3 - Embedding video in Folioz pages - Shows my ability to embed a video artifact onto my folioz page in order to create a more media rich eportfolio.
- FN7 - Create a group in Folioz for team members to join - Shows my ability to create a group for myself and my peers to share and present work from on folioz.
- FN4 - Develop a public professional profile - Shows my ability to create a public profile page that explains who I am and what my portfolio contains.
- FN6 - Customizing the look of your page - Shows my ability to create a Folioz page which is customized to appropriately display the content.
- FN8 - Selecting professional artifact, reflection and sharing - Shows my ability to gather artifacts that display expereince relevant to my career as an educator and connect that expereince to the BC Standards of teaching.
- FA01 - Publishing different digital badge collections on Folioz Page - Shows my ability to upload digital badges to mozilla backpack to sort into collection and then upload from the online backpack onto folioz.
- FC1- Creating pages, customizing, and sharing - Shows my ability to create and customize new pages within my folioz account.
- FC4 - Embedding content via cloud apps - Shows my ability to embed content via online cloud apps such as googledrive.
- FC5 - Embedding Googledrive apps - Shows my ability to embed google documents into my folioz page.
- FC10 - Using group features in Folioz to share ideas with peers - Shows my ability to create a group, share resources and communicate with others on Folioz.
- FC7 - Creating a Collection of Pages - Shows my ability to create a collection of pages on Folioz.
- FC8 - Sharing pages and collections to different groups via a secret URL - Shows my ability to share FOlioz content with others using a URL code.
- FC9 - Copying and allowing others to copy - Shows my ability to copy a collection on Folioz and adjust the settings within my collections so that the collection can be copied.
- S1 - Collection of lesson plans - Shows that I have compiled my lessons into one area so that they can be easily accessed in the future.
How these skills will help me as an educator:
The ability to create a Folioz page allows me to have a current and well displayed portfolio of expereince and resources that can be utilized for interviews and as a classroom resource in the future. Furthermore, the skills I have learned about the basic creation of a portfolio has encouraged me to be constantly reflective on what I am learning and how I can use those skills to become a better teacher. Lastly, tinkering with a new online tool has made me more comfortable learning about online resources which is highly important as technology is becoming increasingly involved in many classrooms around the world.
Other Badges
Badges in this Group:
1. SR05 - Pinterest Badge - Shows my ability to operate Pinterest specifically for educational purposes.
How this skills will help me as an educator:
Pinterest is a useful tool for educators as it allows for the collection, organization, and sharing of ideas online. I have personally used pinterest as a brainstorming tool to create ideas for most of my past jobs. I also love using pinterest to generate ideas for costumes, recipes, and art projects. I find pinterest extremely useful as it is easy to operate and has an expansive variety of sources feeding into it. I look forward to continuing to use pinterest to generate ideas for myself and hope to find ways to use it as a tool for my students to collect ideas that inspire them.
2. SR08 - Create a Facebook Group chat to organize group projects - Shows my ability to communicate with colleagues via facebook.
How this skills will help me as an educator:
As technology becomes more involved in our every day lives, Facebook is becoming a more common means of communicating. For this reason it is helpful to know how to navigate Facebook and use it safely.
3. SR 02 - Sharing Folioz profile page on social media - This shows my ability to connect my social media platforms in order to link information from one source to another.
How this skills will help me as an educator:
Being able to share information across various social media platforms is an extremely important skill to have as a teacher, especially when trying to communicate with those who are not in your classroom.
4. SR 01 - Promoting social cohesion by baking cookies for the group- Shows my ability to do something for the good of my colleagues.
How this skills will help me as an educator:
As an educator it is important to value relationships as they largely influence your ability to educate your studetns and learn from fellow colleagues. Healthy relationships are also an important part of a healthy lifestyle.
5. S3 - Helping hand badge - Shows my ability to offer my assistance to someone else to enhance their learning experience.
How this skills will help me as an educator:
As a teacher it is important to find value in helping others. When you offer your skills to others, you help them learn, while also creating opportunities to learn something new from those you are helping.
6. M01 - Music Professional Skill Development - Shows my ability to attend and reflect on a musical performance for the sake of furthering my musical knowledge base.
How this skills will help me as an educator:
As an educator it is important to continually expand your knowledge on various topics. In this case I was able to expand my understanding of opera as an art form and consider how it can be incorporated into music education in the classroom.
Blogging Badges Descripiton
Badges in this group:
- B2 - Embed an Image in a post - Shows my ability to insert an image into my blog in order to allow for the visual representation of information.
- B3 - Embed a YouTube video in a post - Shows my ability to incorporate media in the form of a video into my blog to help enrich the reading expereince.
- B5 - Download a Youtube Video as MP4 and edit it as needed - Shows my ability to retrieve desired content from a youtube video.
- B8 - Insert Video URL at a certain time stamp - Shows my ability to insert a video that will start at a desired time.
- B10 - Tagging in blog entries - Shows my ability to tag important ideas in my blogs in order to link to other useful resources.
- B6 - Extract image from video and insert in file or blog post - Shows my ability to cut an image out of a larger video.
How these skills will help me as an educator:
The creation of media rich blogs is an incredibly useful way to reflect on what has been learned thus solidifying the knowledge. Blogs are also a great way to share ideas and learn from others. I can see blogs being used between teachers or between studetns to review, share, and elaborate on each others idea. Blogs are also a great way to document learning and carry out formative assessment.